New numbers show high revenue for Charlotte tourism WSOC TV

A lot of people thought the Democratic National Convention would be the benchmark for Charlotte tourism spending for years to come. Local leaders gave Eyewitness News anchor Scott Wickersham exclusive new numbers from October that they expect to shatter the DNC numbers.

A lot of people thought the Democratic National Convention would be the benchmark for Charlotte tourism spending for years to come.

Local leaders gave Eyewitness News anchor Scott Wickersham exclusive new numbers from October that they expect to shatter the DNC numbers.

They said it's a sign of a great trend in Charlotte.

While visiting friends this week, Dan Griffin from Florida decided to check out the auto show at the convention center.

"My buddies got a whole itinerary of stuff we will do in Charlotte," he said.

He's one of a 100,000 people expected, who will do more than just look at cars.

That type of spending led to a record month in October, said Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority chief Tom Murray.

The CRVA expects revenue to be well over $2.2 million, leaping past the previous record set during the DNC in Charlotte.

Before that, the record was prerecession March 2007 at $1.7 million.

Murray credits the new record to a big IT convention that came to town.

"Everything from room rental to food and beverage. The big things. The big part of this was we fed 5,000 people three meals a day for a week," Murray said.

Local tourists like George Harrington contribute too. He drove an hour from Peachland to go to the auto show.

In 2012, Mecklenburg County hit a record $4.4 billion in tourism dollars because of people like Harrington -- that's a quarter of the state's entire tourism income.

Leaders think this year will be even higher.

Eyewitness News was told October is typically the busiest month for the convention center and then things slow down over the holidays.

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